Book editing is one of the most important step after completing your novel. After years of having put your heart and soul into your writing, spend the money and have it professionally edited. It will be one of the best investment you can make. How you present your manuscript to an agent or publisher, will either open or close the doors for you in the publishing world.
There's so much competition in the book industry today that editors refuse to spend time reading sloppy work from an author. Your story could be a best seller but it'll end up in the waste basket if you don't take pride in your work. We all make mistakes after hours of staring at a computer. A second or third set of eyes are needed to find where they're hidden.
Here are some hints for doing a better job of finding your own mistakes with grammar or other errors: read your book backwards, read the manuscript in a different location or read it aloud.
Avoid the mistake that I had made sending my last editing manuscript to the publisher. I rushed through it without reading it over sentence by sentence. There were over thirty mistakes. They may charge you for changes once the book has been published. Ask for more time on the last editing, if you're not sure. They'll supply it.
My publisher, PublishAmerica, offers three options on the last editing:
1. You send your manuscript in without any more editing. This option puts our book right into print and it'll be ready for release with three weeks.
2. You can take a week longer to go over it one more time. This option puts it into print 6-8 weeks.
3. Their editors go through it one more time. This option puts it into print 3-5 months.
I chose option #2 and still had missed errors. I was excited and didn't want to wait longer for it to be published. I honestly believed that with three editors that my book was clean and ready to go. It might be worth thinking about having their editors go over it one more time and get it released later.
This way, if there are still errors when the book comes out, it's their mistake and you won't be charged. Something to seriously think about.
Now, where to find the editors? You can go on the internet and key in Book Editors and find so many that your head will spin. If you don't know anyone who can give you a reference to an editor, you can stay frozen for months and end up doing nothing. I had been at that point a year ago.
I am not an expert on where to look or who to call on for this task. With A Healing Heart, I had three editors. You can have ten and all of them will find a different way of editing your manuscript.
I found a website www.prostogo.com and was amazed. You list the services that are needed in editing your manuscript. Once your email address is sent, you sit back and wait. That day or the next, you will be over-loaded with editors sending you their resume bidding for the work. I had over twenty-five editors that responded.
Yes, It can be confusing. You may feel like your pulling names out of a hat. The editors will list their qualifications and give their prices for the editing. You can correspond with them before making a choice. It took me weeks to decide between two.
I chose Jerine Watson and paid $1.00 a page for my manuscript, $25.00 for the query letter, and $150 for the synopsis. I found this to be reasonable and decide on this one editor. I was told by someone that they thought $150 for a synopsis was high so look around for pricing.
I signed up for a one night course on How to Get Published at the South coast Learning Center in New Bedford, Massachusetts. It was run by Steven Manchester, who is a Published Author, Poet, Screenwriter, Motivational Speaker and a Literary Consultant. He is now offering editing services. It was well worth the low cost of $45 to learn what the publishing companies are looking for from writers.
Steven Manchester became my co-editor for A Healing Heart. He made positive changes that helped my manuscript. His website is www.stevenmanchester.com. Once you have attend his classes, Steven stays open to any questions or further help in getting published. Periodically, he emails the names of publishers that are looking for articles to be written for their company or requests for new novels. They are great leads.
My final editor was Darcie Roy. I met her in my Writer's Group at the Baker Books in Dartmouth. She specializes in heavy editing and rewrites. Her email is darcieroy@hotmail.com. By heavy editing, I mean she not only checks the normal grammar and punctuation that all editor do but she gives advice on how to improve in showing emotions in a scene, when and if to bring a character into play, or she may ask why something was stated. She suggested things to omit or add. Darcie has taught me to be more aware of showing things in a descriptive way than just telling the reader about them.
All three editors contributed in different ways to make A Healing Heart come alive. I hope the leads on my editors, along with the listed website, help you to get started on the final polishing of your manuscript.
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